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Set Goals

There are four steps managers and employees should take to set goals.

Establish Cascade Goals

Cascade Goals are organizational goals set at the organization or team level. Some units choose to establish a cascade goal at the senior leadership level and push that goal to all staff. These goals are administered in Workday and become visible to the employee once entered.

It is possible to have more than one Cascade Goal and this feature can be administered by a manager to their direct reports. You can review the Job Aid mentioned below for more information.

Review the Job Responsibilities Worksheet (JRW)

While it is not required that the JRW be reviewed and updated in order to participate in the performance review process, it is a best practice to review the JRW yearly. Reviewing job responsibilities and ensuring they are up to date may inform goal setting.

To learn more about using the JRW, review the JRW How to Guide or register for a training on one of the following dates:

Reviewing Information and Training Resources

If you are new to the Penn State performance review process or need a refresher, there are a variety of Job Aids and Training opportunities.

Training Resources

Office Hours

These are open sessions that allow individuals to “drop in” on Zoom to ask a question. They are staffed by Talent Management team members.

Job Aids

The following Job Aids are available in the Knowledge Base:

Set 2-5 Goals

Working with their manager, employees identify goals for the coming year. Use the Goal Setting Template to guide your discussions. Goals focus on a blend of topics that include direct support for organizational objectives as well as personal development objectives. The “Setting Goals & Expectations” trainings and “Setting Goals in Workday” job aid provide detailed information on goal setting best practices, but here are some important tips:

  • Do not exceed 5 goals – they become too cumbersome to manage and it is not realistic to focus on more than 5 “priorities”
  • Follow SMART goal concepts – identify what success will look like
  • Set realistic due dates – goal duration may be a month, quarter, semester, year or more

Questions should be submitted via an inquiry from the WorkLion – select “Talent Management/Workplace Learning” as the topic.

Use this timeline to guide your goal setting activity:

Goal Setting Timeline
When What Who
Week of October 5 Review Resources Employees and Managers
Week of October 12 Employee Documents Goals Employee
Week of October 19 Review Goals with Manager Employees and Managers
Week of October 26 Finalize Goals Employee
Week of November 2 Enter Goals into Workday Employee